a taste of Indonesian food

A recent long weekend escape to a favorite destination led to another tasty food discovery. Another off the beaten path restaurant that we will surely be returning to. Tan's Asian Cafe serves Chinese food too but we went there particularly for their Indonesian menu. It was our first time to try Indonesian food and we loved it :-) The flavors are intense and complex, spicy hot but was made less overwhelming with a dose of sweetness and seasonings. My tolerance for spicy food is significantly lower than my husband's but I had no problem with the level of heat in these dishes.

Babi rica-rica, shown above and below, was spicy and very flavorful. In the menu, it's described as Manado pork cooked in a spicy and tangy red "rica-rica" sauce. The pork which was very tender must have been simmered for hours in a traditional blend of spices and seasonings.

Udang Bumbu Bali or Balinese Shrimp, shown above, skewered shrimp served with a rich delicious red sauce (shown below) that's spicy with a hint of sweetness.

I look forward to trying many other items in their menu when we come back. I'm intrigued with their noodles and soups particularly the Soto Ayam. The deep-fried appetizers we sampled were also very good. In the meantime, inspired by our food experience, I tried to recreate a well-loved Indonesian dish called Beef Rendang at home. It's coming up next :-)